ACT85: Forward

The billowing white smoke drifted away with the wind, the bright red huge wheels slowly stopped and turned, the huge pitch-black body, the blue and black drive connecting rods, and the heavy metal feeling shocked Yu'an, and he couldn't help but want to reach out and touch the mottled body. Yu An held back, and despite the artistic inspiration in her chest, she had to restrain her curiosity and impulses, because this industrial behemoth had an owner.

There was a metallic sound behind the car door, and the old black door opened, and a smoky middle-aged man poked out of it, wearing a pair of glasses under wine bottles, gray and white hair, looking to be in his forties, wearing a yellowish white shirt, a black vest, and a striking black mole at the corner of his mouth.

The middle-aged man took off his glasses, took out a mining lamp from behind him and leaned forward, looked at the two girls in front of him through the dim light, looked up and down, and suddenly said, "Hitchhiking?" ”

"......" The two girls looked at each other, and still did not come back to their senses from this vicissitudes of life. Steam locomotives, miner's lamps, old pedants...... Where did this train, which should have disappeared into the dust of history, come from? Who's driving it?

"Bitten by the walking dead?" The middle-aged man frowned, raised his feet and jumped out of the car, standing up straight before the rain was high.

"Nope..."

"Need help?"

"I don't need to..."

"Oh." The middle-aged man also seems to be a little confused, two lonely and ghost-like girls, a desolate and depressed track, a very unreal picture.

Hui Hui suddenly came back to her senses, and hurriedly said, "Excuse me... Is this your car? ”

"I'm the purser." The middle-aged man lifted his thick-bottomed glasses and frowned, "Is there any problem?" ”

"Where are you from? Where are you going? Hui Hui regretted a little as soon as he spoke, and when he met in Pingshui, it seemed that there were more problems.

"Go to a safe place." The middle-aged man grinned, his eyes turned away, and when he saw the wind-blown drawing paper next to the railroad tracks, he said in surprise: "This is your painting?" ”

"Hers." Megumi pointed at Yu'an, and an inexplicable feeling rose in her heart.

The middle-aged man walked over with a miner's lamp, carefully picked up the drawing paper, leaned under the light and looked at it carefully for a while, and wondered: "Why is there only red?" ”

"If the blood of the walking corpse turns black, it can't be diluted." Yu An then answered, and while looking at the dark carriage, he tore off the charred skin of the baked potatoes, blew on the steaming mashed potatoes, and took a light bite.

The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows and praised: "What a smart girl, painting with the blood of the walking corpse." ”

Hui Hui frowned and looked at the two of them, feeling more and more strange about the atmosphere, quietly pulled Yu An aside, and asked, "He has a train!" ”

"You want to ride?" Yu An blinked his eyes wide, stuffed his mouth with mashed potatoes, and spoke in an urn of anger.

"Yes, but it feels weird." Hui Hui told him calmly.

"Little girl, can you give me this painting? I can exchange supplies with you, water, food, clothing, I have them. The middle-aged man leaned over, pointed to the interior of the dark carriage, and said with a smile: "My bedroom is just missing a painting." ”

"I take the liberty of asking, who are you? How many people are in this train? Megumi struggled to control the fierce demands in her mind and calmly asked, "Is it a survivor?" ”

"Of course, we have traveled thousands of kilometers from Tongliao all the way here." The middle-aged man smiled slightly and said, "Are you interested in traveling around the end times together?" ”

“……”

"Mr. Tian, can you drive?" Before the two could answer, footsteps came from the carriage, and a young man flashed out of the darkness, and when he saw the two girls, he was stunned and surprised: "There are survivors here?" ”

The middle-aged man named Teacher Tian glanced back at him, raised the painting in his hand as if showing off, and said happily: "Go get some food and drink, I want to keep this painting." ”

The young man raised his eyebrows and wondered, "They don't get on the bus?" ”

Hui Hui hurriedly replied, "Excuse me, are there any conditions for getting into your car?" Also, where are you going? Is there a lot of people on the train? ”

The young man smiled and said, "Wait a minute, I'll go to the conductor and he will answer your questions." With that, he turned back to the dark carriage.

Yu An's face was strange, and he quietly tugged at Hui Hui's sleeve, and said in his ear: "You really want to go up?" ”

"Why not?" Hui Hui turned her face to look at her and said, "The two of us have been walking and stopping for so long, don't we also want to find a campsite to stay?" ”

"But, but you're too bold, in case you ......"

"You can come up and have a look." Teacher Tian stood behind the two girls at some point, held his glasses, and said, "We met many survivors along the way, some followed us on the journey, and some said goodbye to us with doubts, which is normal. ”

"Go up and have a look." Megumi said excitedly.

Yu An's face was embarrassed, and he didn't understand why Megumi Huihui, who had been cautious all the way, suddenly behaved so irrationally.

As he spoke, the young man came back, followed by a tall man in the conductor's uniform, with three-dimensional features, looking to be in his thirties, with a well-trimmed beard on his lips and a large-brimmed hat.

"The two of them, and a walking corpse." After the young man introduced him, he hugged his arms and leaned to the side, squeezing his eyes with Yu An from a distance, and Yu An returned a pair of health balls.

The conductor took off his hat, straightened his hair, and walked over and stretched out his hand to the two: "I am the conductor of the 'Advance', an uninfected survivor. ”

The two women shook hands with him and introduced their identities.

"There are still a lot of empty cars on the train, so you are welcome to get on board." The conductor's side face was very attractive, and a pair of big fingers pointed to the long carriage behind him, and said: "We have enough water and food, a group of veterans to protect the safety of the train, doctors, teachers, musicians, we have no destination, where we are suitable for life, we will stop." ”

Yu An listened to the clouds and mist, thinking that there was such a good thing, she had been wandering outside for three years, and she had seen many living people who were more terrible than the walking corpse, and she was not willing to risk her life. However, Megumi showed great interest, and Yuan could feel the excitement coming from her, because Megumi kept clutching her arm and kept shaking.

Yu An was quite helpless, vigilantly looked up and down the train, and asked tentatively: "If we get on the train, what do we need to pay?" ”

"Labor and wisdom." The conductor smiled gently, turned his head to see the painting in Mr. Tian's hand, his eyes lit up, and said, "Painter?" The scenery along the way is your inexhaustible material. ”

"......" Yu An was a little stunned, and nodded stunned.

"Laundry and cooking? So you can exchange it for a seat? Huihui was overjoyed and finally regained some of her senses.

"Of course, it takes everyone's effort to move the train forward." The conductor had a warm smile on his face all the time, and everything seemed so unreal in the dim light and under the dim light of the miners.

At this moment, the curtains of the cars at the back were opened, a few lights were on, the windows were opened, and some heads poked out to look and point.

"How? If there are concerns, I am not reluctant. The conductor turned to the young man leaning against the door with his hands behind his back and said, "Bring me some water and food and give them to the two beautiful girls." ”

"No, no." Megumi glanced at Yu An, and made a decision: "We want to get in the car." ”

Yu An stared at her with wide eyes, and the latter gave her a pleading look.

"What about you?" The conductor looked at Yu An.

"Then I'll be okay too, but I want to ask......" Yu An frowned slightly, and said tentatively: "What if I want to get off halfway?" ”

"Feel free to stay." The conductor let the door open and made a very gentlemanly gesture of please.

The two glanced at each other, turned back to collect the luggage left by the tracks, hesitated for a moment, and finally mustered up the courage to step on the train.

"I'll take you to the carriage, you two live together first, get acquainted with each other for a few days, come to me if you need anything, I'm in the fifth carriage." The young man grinned, holding a miner's lamp and led the two girls to the back of the carriage, the orange light swept over several empty hard-seat carriages, there was a good smell in the carriage, the table was covered with a tablecloth, and there were tableware on the table.

"The dining car is on the first, fourth, and seventh quarters, with the conductor and purser at the front, and the guards at the rear and in the middle of the train, and they will show great enthusiasm for the pretty girls, but don't worry, no one here can force you to do something you don't want to. Three, five, six, eight are ordinary people like you and me, tomorrow the purser will take you to the back of the ninth festival, where you work, you can choose the right position, everyone is very friendly, I believe you can get along very happily. ”

"By the way, the first three and last three carriages can't go casually, other carriages can move around at will, weapons and dangerous goods are not allowed to be hidden in the compartment, you can't take other people's things without authorization, the meal time is fixed, just choose the nearest dining car to you."

The young man walked all the way and said, Yu An and Hui Hui followed behind and listened carefully, looking left and right at the dining car and the sleeping compartment passing through, the third and fifth carriages were full, the sleeper compartment hung the door curtain, and some men and women stood by the door to watch along the way, and they greeted the two very friendly.

The two were arranged in the No. 6 compartment near the water intake room, a hard sleeper compartment, and six beds on and off the left and right in a small space.

"You can use the space by yourself, rest first today, and the purser and I will come over tomorrow." The young man helped stuff the sketchpad and backpack into the luggage rack, and said, "By the way, my name is Chu Guangxu, what do you call it?" ”

"Megumi."

"Yu'an."

"Well, it looks like you two are not as big as me, just call me Brother Xu." Chu Guangxu retreated to the door, suddenly clapped his hands, and said loudly: "Everyone welcomes the new friends in the sixth carriage, Huihui and Yu'an!" ”

In the stunned expressions of the two women, the whole carriage resounded with a round of warm applause, and occasionally a light and loud whistle.

"I regret it." Yu An pursed her lips and said in a low voice.

"I think it's pretty good." Megumi smiled a little unnaturally.

"Okay, don't bother the two of you, feel free to ask me if you have any questions, and if you don't bother to look for me, ask the next door." Chu Guangxu completed the admission procedures for new students, said a word to the left and right, and turned around and left the carriage.

Yu An pressed the mattress, turned his head and said, "I sleep on the top bunk." As he spoke, he climbed up to the top floor, exchanged glances with Megumii, and took out the Ingisha knife from the side of his backpack.

Megumi was stunned for a moment, and cast a questioning look.

Yu An pursed his lips, his eyes glanced at the left and right carriages, Hui Hui understood, stood at the door of the compartment and pretended to chat, but in fact secretly observed the left and right. Yu An inserted the delicate knife back into the leather sheath, unbuttoned the belt and faded the jeans to the crook of the leg, took out the roll of adhesive tape from the backpack, ripped off the long section, tied Yingjisha to the inner thigh, put on the pants and walked around, a little awkward, but fortunately, nothing could be seen from the outside.

As soon as he finished his work, the train shook violently, and then there was a rumbling sound, billowing white smoke rising, and the bright red wheels slowly turned from slow to fast. Looking at the desolation that was gradually abandoning outside the window, Yu'an couldn't help but sigh lowly, and Huihui also climbed to the top bunk, and the two girls looked at each other wordlessly through the narrow aisle, and laughed together.

"Why did you insist on getting in the car?" Yu An was still puzzled by this, pulled up the quilt to cover his body, and asked in a low voice.

"I've seen the conductor." Megumi blinked, but there was confusion in her eyes, and she muttered, "But I forgot where I saw it." ”

"You know him?"

"I've just seen it."

"No, you wanted to get on the train when the conductor didn't come out just now, okay?"

"Uh..."Hui Hui blushed and said in a low voice, "There is no special reason, I just want to come up and take a look, we have been adrift for too long, I think, we should return to the crowd." ”

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